How to replace the distributor in a 99 PF 3.3L ??

[krott5333]

Is there a write-up somewhere around here that shows how to replace a distributor in a 3.3L PF?

Thanks

[Chuck Tribolet]

Factory Service Manual.

But why would you need to?

[krott5333]

My car is stuttering/hesitating/misfiring/stalling at lower rpms, symptoms that a couple other people had that were solved with a new distributor.

[GotDirt443]

like this???????? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf_6UoXtSWw

[krott5333]

like this???????? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf_6UoXtSWw

very similiar, but often it wont do it when the engine is cold. At idle, and usually below 2k rpms, the rpms will fluctuate, and it will feel like its surging/bogging/misfiring. And sometimes when I come to a stop it will even stall. But once I get above 20mph or so, and it gets going, and I floor it, its fine. And its fine on the highway as long as I keep my speed and rpms up. But as soon as I get off the highway, it will start hesitating again.

[nissandoms47]

Turn engine until you reach top dead center on cylinder number one. Remove all the plug wires and harness connectors and remove the cap so you can verify where exactly the rotor is pointing inside the distributor. Remove the 12? MM bolt on the drivers side of the distributor shaft, remove and replace with new unit, keep in mind the gears curve so when you install the new distributor with the rotor pointing to cylinder number one, it is possible it'll rotate away when you try and reinstall it. Meaning when you reinstall have the rotor one position before cylinder number one so that when it is installed it will be in the correct position.

[krott5333]

Turn engine until you reach top dead center on cylinder number one. Remove all the plug wires and harness connectors and remove the cap so you can verify where exactly the rotor is pointing inside the distributor. Remove the 12? MM bolt on the drivers side of the distributor shaft, remove and replace with new unit, keep in mind the gears curve so when you install the new distributor with the rotor pointing to cylinder number one, it is possible it'll rotate away when you try and reinstall it. Meaning when you reinstall have the rotor one position before cylinder number one so that when it is installed it will be in the correct position.

How do I determine I'm at TDC on cylinder 1, and how do I turn the engine without starting it?

[GotDirt443]

you can turn the engine over with a socket on the bolt that holds the harmonic balancer on.

[GotDirt443]

i found this, i think it might help you .......... zerothread?id=426685

[krott5333]

i picked up a Haynes manual today. Thanks for all the help folks.

So I suppose I need to buy a timing light? Or can I get away without it?

[hospitalbuilder]

krott,Have you tried any other fixes yet? My philosophy is to repair/replace things in a ascending order of difficulty and cost, cheaper and easier first. The symptoms you describe could be attributed to many things, many things easier and cheaper than replacing the entire distributor. Have you tried a tune up, replacing plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor? How about cleaning the MAF. Replacing the fuel filter. I was having some revving and cranking problems on my 99Q and did all of the above, plus had a shop replace the ECM relay and clean the battery terminals. Several months now and everything is running well.

Good luck to you, figuring these things out can be perplexing at times, but I would hate for you to go through the expense and difficulty of replacing the distributor, only to find the problem was something more simple. Of course you may have already run through these things and have come to the distributor anyway.

[krott5333]

I was initially having similiar issues, but much worse. My mechanic narrowed it down to the cam pos sensor, which is in the distributor.

[deviltaz]

Is there a write-up somewhere around here that shows how to replace a distributor in a 3.3L PF?

Thanks

Here is a free and good write-up on how to replace a distributor with estimate cost for repair. This may help you as a reference for your diy.

[Geren8509]

I hope this helps someone who buys the cheap amazon or ebay distributor for $70 bucks. I replaced my distributor with a cheap replacement and 30 days later, my car would not start up after parking it. I still had my old distributor in my garage, so I swapped out the resistor to my new cheap distributor that I installed And it fired right up. The resistor is the little copper looking round thing on the outside of the distributor on the left side when standing in front of the pathfinder. It has the 2 wires coming out of the front and one goes under the distributor cap, and one goes to the front wire connector. There is a philips screw holding the resistor to the side of the distributor..I read somewhere that the resistors fail on those cheap distributors so i gave it a shot. Now i am about 15,000 miles and 16 months down the road and still running on that 70$ distributor. I had to remove the cap and rotor to access the resistor wires from under the cap, but it sure beats paying $250 for a new distributor.